I enjoyed seeing No. 12 meet No. 1, and most of the banter that went along with that. The old-fashioned comments about women made by No. 1, and No. 12 trying to stop him, got old--too many comments. I didn't think it was very Christmas-y until about 1/2 way through--we find out that the Captain was about to be killed in December 1914, and was saved by the impromptu Christmas cease fire. I guess that was part of the plot--the Doctors bringing the Captain back so that he could die? I also liked that we find out just who he is, and why that is important. Just didn't seem to be much of a story--except that there were 2 Doctors who were afraid to regenerate, and needed to be helped along by friends. Nardole made an appearance-ho hum.

As for the regeneration. When No. 13 said "Oh, brilliant," and then fell out of the TARDIS, I thought to myself, "is she going to be a female Matt Smith?"

I recorded this, so maybe I'll like it better when I watch it again--I usually have to watch DW eps twice to really get what is going on.

Bah-Humbug.

ETA--The make-up and costume people did a fantastic job of making David Bradley look like the First Doctor!

"It's got so much chalk in it I'm not sure if we should eat it or write with it."***"What are you going to do for the rest of your life, fish? There's bigger fish to be caught here."

Here's some praise for the very first female doctor, from the Facebook page of 'A Mighty Girl,' a group that encourages and promotes equality of opportunities for girls and women (Dec. 25 at 21:46):

"Welcome to Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to star in the long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who in 54 years! After the July announcement that Whittaker had been cast as the 13th Doctor, she made her debut in this year's Christmas special. At the time of the announcement, Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who’s new head writer and executive producer, said: "Jodie is an in-demand, funny, inspiring, super-smart force of nature and will bring loads of wit, strength and warmth to the role... I always knew I wanted the 13th Doctor to be a woman and we’re thrilled to have secured our number one choice.”

For years, many fans of the show, which features a main character who periodically regenerates into a new body -- allowing for an easy change of lead actor -- have urged showrunners to consider featuring a woman in the role. When Peter Capaldi, who was playing the 12th Doctor, announced he would be leading the show, many speculated that it was time to consider a female Doctor. In a BBC interview, Whittaker acknowledged that some fans may find the shift to a female lead challenging but that she believes it's a positive change for the show: "I want to tell the fans not to be scared by my gender. Because this is a really exciting time, and Doctor Who represents everything that’s exciting about change. The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one."

When asked how it feels to play the first female Doctor Who, Whittaker was effusive: “It feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually push themselves and challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you’re told you can and can’t be. It feels incredible."Congratulations to Jodie Whittaker on her historic new role!"

I never like the new Doctors at first. I started watching DW with David Tennant, and I was disappointed when he left, but then Matt Smith became my favorite Doctor so far. I was unhappy when he left, but Peter Capaldi has grown on me. So, maybe Jodie Whittaker will grow on me, too.

Last edited by Samfan on Thu Dec 28, 2017 1:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"It's got so much chalk in it I'm not sure if we should eat it or write with it."***"What are you going to do for the rest of your life, fish? There's bigger fish to be caught here."

Wolesley wrote:When asked how it feels to play the first female Doctor Who, Whittaker was effusive: “It feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually push themselves and challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you’re told you can and can’t be. It feels incredible."https://www.facebook.com/amightygirl/?h ... 0I&fref=nf

I'm all for equality in whatever form it takes (equal pay, promotion at work, etc.) but there will only be true equality when people don't have to keep banging on about it. The sentence above might have appealed more to me if the new doctor had just said 'as a person'. Or they could have left that bit out entirely without altering the substance of the comment.

Any time - every time - there is a first for a woman in whatever field of endeavour, the focus of the news is that it’s a woman taking on the task, so there’s bound to be commentary including the words feminist and woman. Eventually, let’s hope, there won’t be a need to bang on about it, but we’re certainly not there yet. I haven’t seen the Christmas special, but let’s also hope Ms. Whittaker as the new Doctor won’t be required to wear scanty costumes showing off her figure, but can just wear practical, dare I say 'rational dress,' as the feminists of 140 years ago had to argue for.

For some reason the definition of the word "feminist" seems to have shifted drastically over the past thirty years or so.

When I was young, it simply meant one who favored equal opportunities and equal pay for women. Notions that men should take a more equal share of housekeeping and child-rearing duties were associated with it as well, but it was primarily about equal treatment in public life -- education and the workplace.

Now I'm in my fifties and the mother of two twentysomething daughters who define the world very differently. A "feminist", to them, is someone who hates men and whines endlessly about being oppressed by "the patriarchy" (the girl who came up with this phrase was my older daughter's childhood friend Annie, who brought it back from Yale, where she spent her undergraduate years. Yeah, she was really oppressed!)

I simply refuse to accept this nonsense definition. I consider myself a feminist, meaning I believe that women should be given the same educational, employment and other opportunities as men. Jodie Whittaker's statement doesn't bother me in the least.

I agree that the term feminist has changed radically from how I defined it when I was younger, and I do lament the change, particularly the perceived victimhood about being oppressed. They seem to share the popular conceit among many (especially the young) that 'someone' should be blamable for all their misfortunes. Personal responsibility seems to have gone out of fashion. I was lucky (in that I had no clue about gender bias as my brother and I were raised by very forward thinking parents who had both of us washing dishes and wiring plugs) that I went straight into a laboratory medical environment that made no distinction in pay or career opportunities between the sexes, so I wondered what all the fuss was about until I got older.

Now I think the ground we did make is being eroded by the militant man haters and we risk not being heard at all because both men and women are turning away from the so-called ranting of 'Feminists' (or Feminazi, as I heard someone say at a recent party - a woman too, in her 50's). It's difficult to get a rational reasoned discussion going if no-one wants to listen to one side of the group because of their 'extreme' views.

My daughter has just come in to see me. She is peeved by the (online media) reaction to the female Doctor, regarding her clumsiness and 'typical female driver' comments. Her final comment made me smile. 'Honestly mum, you would think people would realise that she was following the script she was given. It probably wasn't her choice to play it ditsy. People should just grow up and get some common sense.'.